Chapter Battle Strategy
= * *WIP* * = This page is to document the Battle Strategy of the Chapter Ghosts of Retribution, and to benefit the Chapter through knowledge of the key points of battle. = Mission Statement: * This objective for the Ghosts of Retribution will be first and foremost, to uphold the Emperor's Will. From that objective do we base the aid of the Imperium, as it is the Emperor's Will that Humanity stand united in the Galaxy, independent of the will of the Alien, the Mutant, and the Heretic. ** To that end, the Ghosts of Retribution were formed and charged by the High Lords of Terra, who are to speak for the Emperor, to aid Sector Deus in the Defence of its people and the Attack of its enemies. It is to this latter objective that the Ghosts of Retribution take action, in the hopes of achieving the former. General Observations on Warfare # Warfare is destructive. A soldier who has trained his entire life for this moment may find himself deciding his future in seconds of battle. Likewise, a stockpile of artillery shells costing more than a million Thrones may be used in a matter of seconds, in order to save losses from the Emperor's own planet. It is to the benefit of the Ghosts of Retribution to always seek to resolve a war quickly, or to take steps to remove the enemy's ability to damage the Emperor's forces. #Warfare is chaotic. A commander obtaining information from orbit may find that by the time the information has reached him, the battlefield has changed. Likewise, a commander on the ground may seek to outfox an enemy only to find his plan invalidated by forces beyond his control. It is this 'friction' that shows between any battle plan's ideal result and its real result, and any good commander plans around the expected results of his own planning. ##Friction, as described previously, can be a weapon used against the enemy as well. It is to this reason that the disruption of enemy communications and movement be a priority to a commander, while preserving his own. ##Whenever there is a failure in communications, or an unexpected development in battle, responsibility of command falls to the junior officer, to preserve the initiative of his forces. It is the senior officer's job to convey the commander's intent, as well as supply enough information to allow a rational and prompt decision to be made. Warfare may be divided into two parts: Preparation The preparation to battle is almost as important as the battle itself. Arms, supplies, and men must be delivered before a battle, intelligence must be gathered on the capabilities of the enemy, and expected results must be made from these intelligence projections. A commander must always seek to be more prepared for battle than the enemy. Frequently, a Ghosts of Retribution task-force decide the outcome of campaigns long before the issue of dwindling supplies come up. If unable to be resupplied in a battlefield, it is expected that supplies on the planet or earmarked for allied units on the battlefield would be diverted for the Ghosts' own usage; however, such dire situations would likely require some diplomacy. Combat The Ghosts of Retribution understand Battle as the use of force to achieve a military objective. It is the aim of this document to better understand the plan of Battle, otherwise known as the Operation, in order to achieve their objectives. Key Points of a Fighting Force Will to Fight The unit must be willing to face the enemy, fight him, take casualties and continue fighting if necessary. Any failure during this decision process should rightly be regarded as being unfit for fighting, requiring either regroup, reinforcement in either equipment supplies or men, or retirement from the field. A good commander knows when a unit will be lost, either to morale or to strength, and seeks to spend only as much of it as the mission demands. Readiness The unit must be able to assemble and move before it's inaction jeopardizes its mission. All equipment necessary to battle must be on hand the moment the unit is needed to perform its task. Likewise, a failure to mobilize during an attack before the unit is under attack will result in a rout; a failure to strike quickly during a defence will result in stagnation. A good commander knows when his unit has the equipment and supplies required to begin or continue fighting, and keeps his forces prepared for battle. Strength The unit must have enough strength to win its objective, in numbers and training. All units in combat will lose strength in time, and a good commander sets and modifies its objectives accordingly. Initiative The unit must be able to decide in the heat of battle whether or not to continue fighting, when to request orders and supplies, when to pass information on to Command, and when to act independently as needed. A good commander gives his units enough information to adapt and overcome the trials of the battlefield, while passing on information as little information to the enemy as necessary. Flexibility The unit must be able to interpret and adapt to its orders, the conditions on the battlefield, and the enemy's battle plan inside and outside the heat of battle. The ability to do so will preserve the units Strength while succeeding in its objective. A good commander understands where his units are inflexible as areas to be defended from, and his opponents' as points to be exploited. General Plan for Battle, in attack or Defence of a planet. Overview: In warfare, a Ghost of Retribution taskforce can be expected to first hear about the conflict, determine the force necessary to achieve victory, arrive at the conflict in a timely manner, achieve control of the space around the planet, assault the enemy from orbit, and move to overcome the enemy from the ground. This is the standard method of battle for a detachment of Space Marines. Deployment Orbital Control Arriving to the planet, The taskforce will challenge the enemy space forces, if any, in naval combat. Assuming a victory over said space forces, the taskforce will secure the rest of the system while beginning planetfall. Planetary Assault The taskforce will determine hostile ground anti-orbital defenses, if any, before deploying Marines to the battlefield. Following the elimination or bypassing said defenses, the taskforce will determine the ships not needed to maintain orbital control and move said ships into low orbit, to gather intelligence and support with naval gunfire. Battlefield Control The taskforce will seek to determine in attack, the forces and capabilities of the enemy as well as in defence, the necessary areas to be controlled. From here, a battle plan may be made to the most efficient way of accomplishing the taskforce's objectives.